Tragic

Reinhard Lauck — Alcohol: The most famous wanderer between the worlds of Union and BFC Dynamo is the former GDR national defender Reinhard Lauck. In 1974, in the GDR's sensational 1-0 win over the eventual World Champions West Germany, Lauck reduced Wolfgang Overath and Günter Netzer to bit-part players. Two years later, he became an Olympic champion in Montreal. Twenty-one years after that, Lauck died from the consequences of his alcoholism. His tragedy was poignantly told by Alexander Osang in his reportage "Ick bin doch Mäcki, kennste ma nich?" ("I'm Mäcki, don't you know me?").

Günter "Jimmy" Hoge — Anything but conformist: Günter "Jimmy" Hoge was Union Berlin's first GDR international. From 1958 to 1962, he played for ASK Vorwärts Berlin, then moved to BSG Motor Köpenick (1962–1964) and TSC Berlin (1964–1966). From 1966 to 1970, he made 77 competitive appearances for 1. FC Union Berlin, scoring five goals for the Köpenickers and becoming a crowd favourite. Hoge ended his footballing career at BSG Motor Hennigsdorf (1970–1973) and later at IHB Berlin and Motor Friedrichshain. The 5'7" striker was capped six times for the GDR national team between 1961 and 1968. His first international came as a left winger on June 21, 1961 in a friendly against Morocco (1-2). After the subsequent World Cup qualifier against Hungary — which the GDR lost 3-2 — Hoge vanished from the squad for six years, despite being widely admired for his sporting ability. In terms of ball control, dribbling and speed, Hoge was one of the finest GDR players of the 1960s. But "Jimmy" was also a headstrong, non-conformist character who rubbed coaches and officials the wrong way and regularly fell out of favour. In July 1962, he was "demoted" to the lower-division GDR league side BSG Motor Köpenick. His most successful phase came at Union Berlin. As a Union player, Hoge won his way back into the national team, earning four more caps up to his last international on February 2, 1968 against Czechoslovakia. Excellent performances on a South American tour earned him the nickname "motorneto" ("little motorbike") from the local press. Hoge was part of the Union team that won the 1968 FDGB-Pokal. After the cup triumph, it seemed as though the career of Jimmy, now nearly 28, was finally heading towards "GDR superstar" status — but it was already abruptly over. Due to so-called "disciplinary offences" (such as driving without a licence), Hoge was banned by the GDR Football Association "from all match and sporting activities from October 17, 1968 to May 31, 1969." The official ruling stated that Hoge had "repeatedly been under the influence of alcohol" and "grossly insulted his teammates." In official GDR-speak, the DFV declared that Hoge was not capable of "anchoring his behaviour within the framework of the collective and the customary life of our society."

In the 1969/70 season, it seemed as though the ban had not harmed Hoge further. He remained part of Union's first team and helped the club gain promotion to the Oberliga. But in the summer of 1970, the final blow came. Hoge received a professional ban — for singing a song. A very specific song. The Union team travelled to the Baltic Sea at the end of the season. "Party animal" Hoge met his former coach Schwenzfeier at a pub and, while drunk during a TV broadcast of a West German international, started singing the Deutschlandlied. The incident was reported to the Stasi, which reacted harshly and ensured that the GDR Football Association banned the then nearly 30-year-old player from competitive football: a six-year ban from the Oberliga (GDR's top division), a two-year ban from the DDR-Liga (second division) and a one-year ban from the Bezirksliga (third division). The football career of "Jimmy" Hoge — who had been an international just two years earlier — was over. At least at the top level. After reunification, things didn't go particularly well for Jimmy either. He was never good with money, nor with the professional mechanisms of the new era. Old companions repeatedly tried to help and give him stability, but with limited success. Since 2003, Hoge has been an honorary member of 1. FC Union Berlin. He died of cancer at the age of 77. Under different circumstances, Günter "Jimmy" Hoge could have become one of the greats of German football. He certainly had the talent.